


Sad Side City Street

by fourtydaysfourtynights



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: AU - Frank is not in MCR, Anal Sex, Angst, Fluff, Swearing, handjobs, underage drinking/smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-02
Updated: 2013-11-29
Packaged: 2017-12-31 06:56:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1028637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourtydaysfourtynights/pseuds/fourtydaysfourtynights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Jersey sucks. Belleville sucks. Rain sucks and having to zip your hoodie all the way up sucks, but pneumonia sucks even more, so feeling like your own clothes are choking you is the lesser evil."<br/>When Frank's parents get a divorce, he has to move to New Jersey with his mother. Of course he misses California, but life in Jersey might not be as bad as he thinks. Until the consequences of the divorce hit him full force, that is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I wish I was on the highway

Jersey sucks. Belleville sucks. Rain sucks and having to zip your hoodie all the way up sucks, but pneumonia sucks even more, so feeling like your own clothes are choking you is the lesser evil.

But still. This street is really fucking wet, covered in wet leaves and shit (an invitation to break a leg or two), and every single building is covered in amateur graffiti. Also, all of those buildings look like old, abandoned factories or some shit. Pretty weird. Pretty unsettling, in fact, because being surrounded by grey brick walls, a grey concrete sidewalk and a grey sky can make you feel very claustrophobic.

Frank is just wondering if his mom would maybe let him move back in with his dad if he gets mugged when he hears music coming out of the basement of the factory building to his right. Punk music, to be exact, and it isn’t even that bad. Frank is intrigued enough to walk into the alley next to the building (despite people possibly waiting to mug or stab him or something) to look for an entrance. Which he finds. Which is, in fact, open, and that leaves him to wonder if concerts really start at seven o’clock in this shithole. But still, an early concert is a lot better than no concert at all and Frank goes inside.

The club, if you'd call it that, is tiny. Like, living room-sized tiny, and there are barely any people there. A few dudes on stage, including one who looks really good and kind of brightens Frank’s entire New Jersey experience, and a few dudes in the back. Frank’s old band hadn’t been particularly great, but they had always drawn crowds of more than five people. Also, they had never played with the lights on. Jersey is definitely weird, but everyone is staring at Frank like he's the weird person in this scenario.

“Wait,” the (hot) guy on stage says. “You don’t work here, right?”  
“Uh, no?!”, Frank snaps because what the fuck kind of question is that, “I thought this was a fucking concert.”  
At that point, everyone erupts into laughter. What the fuck? Do they think they're better than him? Finally, one of them coughs out that the band was _doing motherfucking soundcheck, ha, I can’t even believe it!  
_ “Oh. Uhm. Okay? I’ll come back later? Maybe?”, Frank stuttered. Wow. Smooth, Iero. All the hot guys love that shit. While he makes a hasty and not exactly graceful exit, he hears a “We're starting in an hour!” from somewhere behind him.

Fucking great, he’d been here for what, five hours maybe? And he had already made an ass out of himself in front of a really hot guy and now he had to go to that concert so the hot guy would know that Frank was, in fact, way too cool to let something like that get to him, which means that he'll probably have to sit out here in the cold for at least an hour. Unless he finds a place that sells coffee or some other kind of hot drink – preferably somewhere that lets you sit inside, because “frozen solid” is not exactly the best look on him. So he continues his journey through this ugly, cold and potentially dangerous town.

By 8:30, he's standing in front of the club again. This time, he really wants to make a good impression, so he stands outside, smokes and tries to look cool despite his nerves. He’d paid and gotten his hand stamped already, but he hadn’t gone all the way inside. He's on a mission (impressing Hot Band Guy), and being late is just part of his plan. Except Hot Band Guy probably won’t care if Frank is late or on time or if he shows up at all. Anyway, Frank has a plan, and not being on time is just the first step.

“You can smoke inside, you know.” Frank very nearly jumps at the voice next to his ear. Which belongs to Hot Band Guy. Who is staring at Frank and being all black hair and leather jacket and super mysterious while Frank looks like a wet dog. He should probably forget the plan. Also, he should probably respond.  
“How would I know? I’ve never been here before. Like, I’m not from here, I just moved here.”  
“Yeah, you made that pretty obvious.” Hot Band Guy laughs and Frank just fucking blushes like a little girl. Fucking great, here he is, with Hot Band Guy laughing at him. But hey, he still has the plan.

He continues with step two of his fail-safe plan inside. He buys beer for himself and Hot Band Guy, drapes himself on one of the bar stools in a way that is supposed to be very decorative while hopefully still seeming cool and starts talking about music - it seems appropriate and Frank is just really good at talking about music. It's effective as well, because it turns out that he and Hot Band Guy can totally bond over bands. It also turns out that Hot Band Guy has a name that seems to be made for Hot Band Guys (Gerard), that his band is actually pretty popular and that he is also still in high school. It's weird because Frank thought he’d be in his twenties or something, but that only increases the chances of his plan working – because goddamnit, if he's forced to move to some weird town, he might as well find a boyfriend or a fuckbuddy or whatever to make his time worthwhile.

The room fills up, the first band goes on stage and Frank starts with step three: looking cool while listening to live music. He grabs Gerard’s sleeve, pulls him to the front of the club and waits for something to happen.

The first band is okay, nothing Frank really has to listen to again, but he didn’t hate them either.  
“So? You like them?”, Gerard shouted over a Nirvana song blaring out of the speakers.  
“They were okay, I guess. I don't hate them, but it's not something I wanna listen to again.”  
Gerard grinned and pulled him towards the bar again. “You’re out of luck, then, because the second band sounds just like them. Wanna go outside again? It’s gonna be almost an hour before we get to play.”  
“Alright, is there any place I could buy smokes? Without anyone asking for ID, preferably.”  
There is a place, but it's pretty far away and they have to walk because Gerard’s brother, a skinny kid named Mikey, refuses to give them the car keys because “no sex in my car, Gerard!” Gerard’s response is just “it’s my car, too, I paid half!” He says nothing about not wanting to have sex in the car and Frank deems that a success.

The cigarette place turns out to be a very old gas station that only carries a few brands, but they do have the kind Frank likes. Gerard likes them too, apparently, because he reaches into Frank’s back pocket to get the pack and lights two – one for himself, one for Frank. Frank thinks he might be making progress in the field of seducing people, and that's confirmed when Gerard slings one arm around his waist on the way back – he says he only wants to put his hand into the pocket of Frank’s hoodie, but he's got enough pockets on his jeans and jacket that Frank knows it's bullshit. They walk around for a bit instead of going back to the club, talking about everything they can think of, and Frank’s life is actually pretty great.

Back at the club, they're met with a very angry Mikey who tells Gerard to get the fuck inside right now because they were apparently supposed to start, like, ten minutes ago. Gerard hurries on stage while Frank resumes his position at the front, waits for the things to come and tries to look cool – he probably doesn't have to because Gerard actually seems pretty dorky, but being cool never hurt anyone, right?

Gerard’s band is actually pretty awesome, so Frank ends up doing what a bunch of other people also do: he takes of his hoodie because it's way too hot to dance in, tosses it into a corner and flings himself into the pit. He figures it could count as another step of his plan: showing Gerard that he likes his music, because that had always made Frank happy when he still had a band, so it would probably be the same for Gerard. The plan is obsolete now, of course, because Gerard seems to like Frank already, but Frank likes it when things are structured.

After the show, he's back at the bar, nursing a beer and a bloody nose, when Gerard comes up to him again.  
“You guys were fucking awesome!”  
Gerard grins. “Enjoyed yourself, huh? I saw you in the pit. Now, do you have another smoke for exhausted band guys?”  
Frank does. He also has a phone number, and then he has Gerard’s number and an invitation to come to his place tomorrow, “just to hang out with me and Mikey, you know, because you seem pretty cool, so.”

“Hey mom, I’m back and I made friends!”, Frank calls out while tossing his keys on the kitchen table. She comes out of the living room, smiles and pulls him into a hug. “Yeah? So, do you think you could get used to living here?”  
“Maybe. I mean, hopefully. I mean, I guess I could, yeah.”  
“That’s nice. Do you think you could also take a shower? You smell terrible. Where have you been, anyway?”  
So Frank tells her, just leaving out the beer and the smokes and his plan – leaving out Gerard would have been pointless, because you can’t really tell a story if you leave out the main character, and his mom knows he's gay anyway. Then he showers, and when he finally ends up in bed, he thinks that maybe, Jersey won’t be that bad if he just buys himself a proper jacket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first story I'm writing in English, so any con-crit (any opinions in general, actually) would totally be appreciated :)  
> The story title is from This Young Crazed Peeling by The Distillers, chapter title from Olympia, WA by Rancid.


	2. I think I wanna take you home

When Frank wakes up, it's dark. That seems pretty weird, but then again, he hasn’t seen any actual evidence that they have a sun in Jersey. Turns out it's just because it's five in the morning, an ungodly time to wake up at, but it means that he can smoke – his mom won't wake up before seven and he really thinks he might need some nicotine if he wants to get through the day. He opens the window, sits down on the windowsill and flinches – it had been raining all night and there's ice-cold water soaking through his sweatpants. Fantastic, but now he's awake for real.

Frank ends up feeling restless all day, counting down the hours until he can finally catch the bus over to Gerard’s house. At nine, with another ten hours to go, he starts unpacking the rest of the boxes with his mom, cleaning the house and even going to the store to get groceries with her. If his mom is freaked out by that, she at least had the courtesy not to say anything.   
They have an early dinner because Frank is just about ready to crawl out of his own skin and he really only wants to get out of the house. He just has to tackle the not-so-minor problem of choosing something to wear. It's raining again, and it's pretty cold again, and Frank really only has clothes for warmer weather. In the end, he just ends up wearing jeans, a band shirt and a hoodie again because he's running out of time, so he decides that looking like you're trying too hard is so not punk rock.

It turns out that he's still completely overdressed, because Gerard opens the door in sweatpants and a ratty shirt and leads Frank into the weirdest house he’s ever seen. It's stuffed full of weird shit – antique furniture, furniture that seems to be broken and useless, lots of paintings and vases and other old-looking stuff. Apart from that, it's messy and pretty dark. In general, it's not what Frank had been expecting – it just reminds him of the Addams Family in a really weird way.

Gerard breaks the silence when they enter the kitchen. He kicks the door closed, pulls Frank into a hug and whispers “Cool to see you. We need to be quiet up here, my mom fell asleep on the couch again.” Apparently, people sleeping on couches at seven o’clock at night were a normal occurrence in this place, and kicking the door shut qualifies as being quiet in this house. These Ways are definitely a weird bunch.   
They arm themselves with a few cans of coke and venture down the stairs to Gerard’s basement bedroom. It's as dark as the rest of the house, but Frank still recognizes the Batman sheets on the bed. Gerard has to be more nerdy than Frank had originally thought. That's good, it makes him more approachable and Frank feels less like he needs to be cool or badass to fit in here.   
There are loads of other cool-looking things in the room, though: lots of drawings and sketches all over the desk, clothes (all black, of course) all over the floor, and a record collection that is almost as big as Frank’s own. The decoration mostly consists of full ashtrays strategically and haphazardly placed around the room, and a bunch of empty bottles. It still seems inviting to Frank, but that might have been because it was Gerard’s room.   
When they sit down on the bed, Gerard puts a hand on Frank’s thigh. Frank is just starting to freak out and think that things might be going a bit too fast, but apparently, Gerard only needs to steady himself while he gropes around behind the bed and comes back up with a bottle of whiskey. And there goes the last sliver of Frank's coolness – his friends back in California had preferred the combination of beer and weed, so he had never tried whiskey. Now he needs to act like he does this all the time and try not to puke, which seems pretty impossible considering the smell that rises up when Gerard opens the bottle. He tosses one of the coke cans into Frank’s lap.   
“Drink some so I can put the whiskey in!”   
Frank has a few tiny sips so he maybe wouldn’t get that much whiskey, but that plan fails when Gerard swirls his can around.   
“Aw, come on, do it right!”, he says and takes a really big sip out of the can before refilling it and giving it back to Frank. It smells absolutely terrible.   
Gerard drinks most of the contents of the other two cans, adds whiskey and puts one aside – “for Mikey, if he ever comes downstairs”. Then he raises his can in Frank’s direction, says “To us!” and downs what appears to be half the can. Frank tries to imitate him, but the whiskey burns in his throat, it barely tastes like coke and he can’t understand why someone would voluntarily drink that. He must be pulling a face because Gerard asks “Too much for you?” He isn't even asking in a mocking tone, though, he just sounds honestly concerned.   
“Nah,” Frank chokes out anyway, “it’s just been a while since the last time I drank.”   
“You had plenty of beer yesterday,” Gerard points out. Oh.   
“Yeah, just, you know…harder stuff.” Because 'never' is, in fact, quite a long while, so it's technically true.   
Just then, Mikey comes in to save Frank. “Hey, Frank!”, he smiles before saying,“Gerard, you promised me a movie, but all I see is two idiots staring at a black TV screen.” “Yeah, because you should probably put in a DVD if you want to watch one.”   
“And what are we watching?”   
“I don’t know. I actually don't even care. Something with loads of fake blood and terrible special effects? That okay? Frank, is that okay for you, too?”   
“Absolutely.”

Frank’s drink is empty twenty minutes in, but he has a warm feeling in his belly and a pretty nice buzz going. At some point, Gerard gets up to get a blanket and drapes it over the three of them. Frank tries to scoot in closer now that he finally has an excuse to do that, but Gerard iss already pulling Frank closer, resting a hand on his thigh for real now and letting him lean his head against his shoulder. Frank is thoroughly unsure if he’d ever been this comfortable. 

When the movie is over, Gerard walks Frank to the bus stop. It's still cold outside, and it's dark again, but at least it's not raining. Yet.   
The headlights of the bus are already getting closer when Frank hears a breathy “hey, Frank, come on,” next to him. He turns around and Gerard’s lips are on his, but Frank’s brain has apparently given up on trying to process the situation. He stands there, mouth open, jaw slack, until the realization of _you should kiss him back goddamnit_ finally hits him. After what feels like half a second, the bus driver is already yelling at Frank to get the fuck inside.   
“I’m gonna be so mad at you if you don’t call,” Frank says, kisses Gerard again (really quickly) and gets on the bus to deal with that rude driver.

Frank thinks it might be unhealthy to be this happy. Also, it’s probably stupid to get this excited over two really quick kisses, but he just can’t help it. He’s just slightly worried that his mom might think he’s on drugs and do something stupid like sending him back to California – it’s not like he doesn’t do drugs, and it’s not like he doesn’t miss California, but he definitely needs to see where this thing with Gerard goes before he can think about going anywhere but Jersey.   
So he tries to keep his temper in check on Sunday, but that doesn’t work at all – he’s still all twitchy and excited, and he catches himself grinning to himself all the time, and he doesn’t feel more than a tiny bit of sadness when one of those spots about abused animals is on TV. On top of that, Gerard is texting him, and he actually squealed when he got the first text. He’s pretty fucking hopeless.   
Then he spirals into a different kind of hopelessness when he realizes that Sundays are usually followed by Mondays, and if the world doesn’t end in the next 12 hours, that’s also gonna happen this time. The consequence of that is that Frank has to go to school tomorrow. To a new school, and he’s seen the movies and read the books, so he knows that this can’t possibly end well. To top it all off, he doesn’t even go to the same school as Gerard and Mikey, so he needs to find friends yet again. Ugh.   
It doesn’t help that Gerard’s advice is to light something on fire so they’ll kick him out, because that might end with his mom sending him back to California.

It turns out that setting something on fire does not get him expelled, but it’s pretty good for making friends. He hadn’t even tried to burn the school down or cause any mischief, okay, it just happened in his Chemistry class. He had just checked his phone for a second, turned back around and things were ablaze. Frank thinks it’s pretty embarrassing, until a kid beckons him over to his table at lunch and introduces him as “Frank, the new kid from my Chemistry class who tried to burn the school down”, and everyone thinks it’s hilarious. Chemistry kid is named Ryan, and his friends all have pretty generic names like Pete and Brendon, so Frank really can’t remember who’s who, but friends without names are better than no friends at all, right?   
School in general is not exactly exciting – the workload isn’t that huge, he thinks he might be able to memorize his new friends’ names at some point and everyone else is pretty chill, nobody tries to pick fights with him or anything. It’s nothing like California, where he’d had a huge group of friends and every school day had ended in chaos, but it’s kind of nice that it’s so quiet. The only thing he really misses is being able to sneak out to smoke at school, but when Pete from lunch finds out Frank smokes, he exclaims “Thank god, someone can go smoke with me!” and leads him to a side entrance that nobody uses.

His first week passes by like that, peaceful and quiet and just interrupted by texts or calls from Gerard, and Frank is actually starting to get kind of bored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title borrowed from Bikini Kill.  
> Hope you liked it!:)


	3. The Things That Come To You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is super fluffy. Seriously.  
> Title is from Island In The Sun by Weezer.

After school on Friday, Frank gets a call from Gerard who wants Frank to come to a house party with him and Mikey, and if he can sleep over, and what is he doing on Saturday?   
There’s nothing Frank would rather do than going to a party with Gerard and Mikey, and he thinks he can talk his mom into letting him stay at their place. Also, he doesn’t have any plans for Saturday, so that’s all settled.  
It turns out that Frank’s friends from school all know the Ways, and Pete throws himself at Frank and demands to know why Frank never told them about that. Apparently, everybody knows the Ways – people seem to like Mikey more, though, because Frank really only sees Gerard in the kitchen, drinking shitty beer, while Mikey turns into some kind of social butterfly.  
The party is really nice for the first hour or so because all his friends are in the same place, and they’re introducing him to more people and that’s kinda fun. But the music gradually gets worse, they run out of shitty beer, so there’s only really shitty beer and a variety of things that smell vaguely like anti-freeze, and someone pukes into the living room. Also, most of his friends seem to have miraculously disappeared, so Frank goes off to find Gerard.   
Gerard is still in the kitchen, and he gets up when Frank comes in and exclaims “Thank God!”. He takes one look at Frank’s face and then tells the guy he was talking to that they’re leaving, and hey, when did Gerard learn to read Frank’s mind? They steal some of the really shitty beer from the fridge and try to get outside before someone can puke on them or something.  
“That was a really terrible party,” Frank says, “and the music gave me a headache.”  
“Yeah, it kinda sucked,” Gerard says. What an understatement. “Mikey really wanted to go, though, and he wanted me to go with him, so I figured I’d ask you because it might suck less, but then you kinda disappeared so it really sucked.”  
“Well, I’m here now, right? And maybe you should have told me that I wasn’t supposed to talk to other people, you know.” Wow, Frank absolutely does not mean to sound so pissed and he actually isn’t trying to argue. Shit.  
“Oh come on, relax a bit, man. I know you want to hang out with other people, I’m not blaming you or anything.”  
That’s good, because Frank really doesn’t want to argue. Saying that might sound even more passive-aggressive, though, so he just asks “What are we gonna do now?”  
“I don’t know, I thought we could go home and just hang out. Like, we could watch a movie or just listen to some music, and we still have the beer and I’ve got some weed if you want that.”  
Frank totally does.  
The Ways’ house is dark and messy like the last time, but Gerard has made his bed and put some of the full ashtrays and empty bottles away. His clothes aren’t even all over the floor anymore, they’re just in a huge pile on the desk chair. Impressive.  
Gerard wastes no time at all – he opens the beers and rolls a joint right away and then he puts on music. “Is Weezer Californian enough for you?”  
They sit down on Gerard’s bed and drink their beer, and then they smoke the joint. Frank’s high is nice and mellow, and it’s really neat not to be all giggly and shit like he usually is when he smokes pot. He and Gerard just lie down and listen to the music. Weezer was a perfect choice, because it reminds Frank of California and the good times he had there, and now he’s having good times in Jersey and it’s nice because it just seems constant in a way, like things can’t go wrong if you’re listening to the right songs. Frank contemplates that for a bit, and then he rolls over and kisses Gerard. The angle is weird at first, but they both shift around for a bit until they can kiss for real. It’s slow, but it’s still good, and Gerard tastes like weed and beer and just like himself. Frank feels really secure like that. It might be stupid, but Gerard is warm and solid and holding him steady with a hand tangled in his hair and the other on his back, and Frank really feels safe in a way.   
At some point, though, the kissing turns into making out, and Gerard’s hand slides lower until he’s kind of squeezing Frank’s ass. Frank thinks, okay, fuck it, and gets Gerard’s pants open and pushes his boxers down, and then Gerard’s dick is in Frank’s hand. He doesn’t give himself the time to freak out, though, he doesn’t even allow himself to think oh god what am I doing – he just fucking goes for it. He thinks he probably isn’t that good at giving handjobs, the angle is all fucked up again and his wrist is twisted in this really weird way, but Gerard seems to like it anyway – the lights are dim, but Frank can still see that Gerard has closed his eyes, and he can feel him moving his hips.   
And then there’s a fucking miracle, because suddenly, Gerard has a hand on Frank’s dick. Frank briefly wonders how Gerard is still composed enough to try to get Frank off, because Frank doesn’t think he’d be able to give someone a handjob while getting a handjob. Then he realizes he’s doing just that, and then he wonders why the fuck he’s thinking about weird shit when Gerard and Gerard’s hands and Gerard’s dick are right there. So he concentrates on the important things in life and speeds up his hand a bit, and Gerard does the same and Frank doesn’t know how close he is until he’s actually coming with a pretty high-pitched moan that would be embarrassing, but Gerard probably doesn’t notice because he’s also coming. Frank’s handjobs probably aren’t as bad as he originally thought, but he’s still pretty fucking stoned, because by the time Gerard’s cleaned them both off with a t-shirt from underneath the bed (which is not only pretty gross, but also says a lot about how thoroughly Gerard cleaned his room), Frank’s about ready to pass out. He cuddles up to Gerard and closes his eyes.  
He momentarily freaks out when he wakes up and Gerard is gone, but Gerard couldn’t have run out on him because, well. They’re in Gerard’s house. Also, Gerard is just coming back and he has a cup of coffee in each hand and a DVD case tucked under his arm. It looks really promising.  
“Good morning!”, Gerard says, and how can someone smile so wide just after getting up?  
“Morning,” Frank croaks out and his voice is all weird, but Gerard doesn’t really seem to notice. He’s busy putting the coffee down and putting the movie in – “The Exorcist, I stole it from Mikey’s room!” – and then giving Frank a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Frank’s mum would probably have a heart attack if she saw that because it’s so far from her definition of breakfast, but he thinks it’s enough.  
They just sit there in silence for a bit, drinking their coffee and smoking and watching their movie, and Frank thinks it’s kinda like the first time he came over. When they finish the coffee, Gerard puts the cups on the nightstand and pulls Frank closer again. They still haven’t said a word, but Frank doesn’t feel as awkward as he usually would and the way Gerard is leaning on him just seems natural. It’s actually pretty nice.  
“This is actually pretty nice, you know,” Frank says. He can feel Gerard grinning into his shoulder before he says “Yeah, your shoulder is pretty comfortable.”   
“Oh, shut up,” Frank groans, “I’m trying to be serious here. I was just thinking that it’s neat how last night didn’t make things, like, weird or anything.”  
“Why would it make things weird, though? I mean, I like you, so,” Gerard trails off. Frank grins – he thinks he must look like a giant dork, but Gerard can’t see him with his head on his shoulder – and says “I like you, too, you know.” Gerard’s response is going to play a huge role in how Frank feels for the rest of the day, so Frank hopes he’s going to say the right thing. For now, it doesn’t look like that, though, because Gerard sits up straight again and turns to look at Frank with a very serious expression.  
“Well then, good sir, would you be willing to accompany me on a date?” he asks, and okay, this is not only completely ridiculous, but he also very nearly gave Frank a heart attack.  
“Oh, I would be delighted,” Frank says. “Also, you’re ridiculous.”  
Gerard comes over later to pick Frank up. When Frank opens the door, he actually feels like someone punched him – he's probably being very cliché, but looking at Gerard really takes his breath away. He's wearing his usual combination of black jeans and a black leather jacket, but he's also wearing a ridiculously big black knit sweater and looking so pale and kind of fragile in a way. It's gorgeous and all kinds of amazing, and then Gerard kisses him and Frank has to pinch himself because it's so surreal. Back in California, there had never been any pretty guys showing up on his doorstep to kiss him and take him out on a date.  
The moment quickly stops being magical and surreal, though, because Gerard frowns and says “You should put on a jacket or something, it's pretty cold outside. And do you have, like, a blanket or something? I totally forgot to bring one, but I think we're gonna need it.”  
“What the fuck are you planning?”, Frank asks, but he still gets his jacket and a blanket.  
When they're in the car and pretty far out of the town, Frank really wonders what Gerard is planning. Maybe he isn't that nice and amazing after all, but actually planning to murder Frank or something? Like, his mom heard that Gerard told him to grab a jacket and Gerard could have done that to appear all concerned about Frank. He could probably use the blanket to wrap up Frank's corpse before doing weird murderer stuff with it. Frank thinks he heard something about dissolving people in acid before.  
His theories are interrupted by Gerard stopping the car. “Here we are. Get out!”  
“Wait,” Frank says. “You're not, like, plotting to kill me, right?”  
Gerard's eyebrows almost reach his hairline when he says “Uhm. No, actually. Why?”  
“Oh, you know. Because we're so far out of town and you said we needed a blanket and you were all concerned...nevermind. It actually sounds really stupid.”  
Frank finally looks around while Gerard rummages around for something underneath his seat. They're in the middle of nowhere and it's completely dark. He can feel that he's standing on concrete or something, though, so he figures they're probably in some kind of parking lot. He hears the blanket brushing over the ground and the clink sound of something metallic on the floor. Gerard's voice is coming from somewhere below Frank when he says “Come on, sit down with me.”  
Frank does, even though he thinks this is seriously weird because he's sitting on a blanket in a parking lot in buttfuck nowhere. “Okay, so what are we doing here?”  
“You said you missed California, so I thought, like, the sky is always the same, right? And I thought that we could maybe just look at the stars because I figured they'd probably be the same ones you'd see over there, so I thought it might be nice for you. To, you know, feel like you're not that far from there or something.”  
“Holy shit,” Frank says, “this is probably-” and then Gerard cuts him off.  
“Oh god, dude, please don't freak out, come on. It's just that Mikey also said it would be cute, and he said that I should impress you by telling you about, like, constellations or whatever, but I don't know anything about that shit so this probably sucks anyway. And he also said I should bring wine because they apparently do that in movies or some shit, but I'm driving so I just brought coffee and a bunch of cups-”  
“Okay, Gerard, you seriously need to chill the fuck out because I was about to say that this is the best idea ever. Seriously. And, like, coffee is always good, right? I don't drink wine anyway and I don't know shit about stars, so you could have made something up and I'd have fallen for it. So yeah. This is pretty fucking awesome.”   
Then he turns around to finally look in Gerard's direction. Now that his eyes have adjusted to the dark, he can see that Gerard's eyes are opened so far it almost looks funny, and he's staring at Frank like he just found out every secret of the universe or something, Frank doesn't even know. Then Gerard catches himself again and asks “Coffee?”, and Frank knows there is only one acceptable answer to that.  
Afterwards they both lie down on their backs. Frank never realized there were this many stars – of course he knew there were lots, but it's different to see them like this. It's kind of weird that he never saw them before, but at the same time, it's so interesting. Then he thinks that this might as well be happening in California – there are parking lots everywhere, and there is also a night sky everywhere, and it's too dark to see anything around him that could scream Jersey. It's surreal because he feels like he could be literally anywhere in the world and he wouldn't even notice. And it's so quiet as well – it's like the world just shut down for the day, maybe some kind of post-apocalyptic scenario where there's only him and Gerard. Gerard might like California, they might be able to go there together someday. It could be nice, introducing him to all of his old friends. His dad probably wouldn't be too stoked, but he misses everyone back there. Gerard was right, though – out here in the dark, it really feels like he can't be that far away. Someone in California has to be looking up at the sky right now, too, and that concept alone is enough to make Frank feel less like he moved into a different universe or something.   
At some point, Gerard sits up and pours them more coffee, and Frank sits across from him and lights cigarettes for both of them.  
“So,” Gerard asks, “are you feeling better about it now?”  
“Totally, but it's so weird in a way, because it's like, really dark and quiet here? It kinda feels like the world shut down and we're the only people left. But at the same time, I know that someone in California must have been looking at the sky right when we were looking up and that's just pretty fucking weird. But it's comforting or something at the same time, I don't even know.”  
“See, you just need to remember that when you miss California,” Gerard says. Frank can hear the smile in his voice. “Just remember that you're not alone, alright? I'm here, and Mikey and the guys from our school...and your friends back in California are also still there. They're not just gonna disappear or whatever.”  
“You're right, I guess. It's still kind of hard.”  
“I know, Frank,” Gerard says. He takes Frank's hand and they just sit there until Frank thinks his legs are gonna freeze and stick to the ground and he will never be able to get up again.  
When they get back in the car, Gerard says “We've been corny enough for at least a year now. Can we get back to being cool punk dudes now?” and turns up the music.   
He drops Frank off in front of his house, and they kiss again, awkwardly bent over the center console.


	4. Take It Back To Old Times

The next few weeks are cool like that. Gerard isn't exactly his boyfriend, but they hang out a lot and cuddle and kiss and continue the handjobs in awkward positions. Frank hangs out with Mikey, too, and Pete and Ryan and their friends. They all go to parties and concerts or just hang out and watch movies. It's fun, and Frank's doing okay in school and his mom likes her new job. But Frank's birthday comes and goes – his mom and friends all give him really cool gifts and they have a party at the Ways' house, which is awesome until Mikey pukes because then Frank also has to puke and they spend quite some time trying to get it out of the carpet while everyone else laughs at them. Frank is sure he will never live that one down. The real problem is about a hundred times worse, though – his birthday comes and goes without so much as a call from his dad.  
The day of, Frank thinks his dad might have forgotten – it wouldn't have been the first time. But when he gets home the next afternoon, he asks his mom about it. She just looks at him for a bit, and then she looks down and says “No, he didn't, but-” and then Frank just runs upstairs to his room because he is so hungover and irritated anyway and now his own goddamn father doesn't even call him on his birthday. He wants to be hardcore and just freak out and break a bunch of stuff, but no, here he fucking goes, dropping into bed and crying like a little kid. Fucking A, now he's disappointed in his father and in himself. Like, wow. He's not even sure why it matters so much all of a sudden – he was doing just fine the last few weeks. But that kind of felt like an adventure or like it was happening to someone else.   
This, though? This is personal, and this is fucked up. Like, wow, okay, Frank knew his parents didn't really love each other anymore – which is why his dad's in California with his new girlfriend and her kids and their new kid while Frank and his mom are stuck in fucking New Jersey – but he didn't know his dad didn't love him anymore. That thought makes him cry even more, which sucks even more, and then he finds himself wondering if love is actually a thing. Like, he knows a bunch of kids whose parents are divorced, and he also knows a bunch of kids who have different boyfriends or girlfriends every other week. And he also knows that he's never been in a real relationship before, so who the fuck knows if he'd even be any good at that, especially if his parents obviously aren't?  
That thought gets stuck in his head like a really annoying song – he just wants it to go the fuck away, but it keeps coming back to bother him at the worst possible moments. One moment he's in bed with Gerard, not even doing anything but still feeling pretty good and all of a sudden, he wants to sit in the corner until he dies because he's so sure that this thing with Gerard is never going to work out. Whenever he looks at his mom, he thinks of all those moments they'd spent with his dad. That leads to him thinking about his dad's new family and he wonders if his dad takes stupid Christine and her stupid kids and the stupid baby to the beach now. And hey, his dad wouldn't have gotten the divorce if he hadn't been happier with Christine and her idiotic kids – so that woman and those kids have to be a lot better than Frank and his mom. Hell, he's met those kids – one of them is a guy his age, and he knows that that kid gets straight As because his dad told him. Frank is willing to bet that that guy also plays a thousand different sports and doesn't like guys and never comes home too late or smelling like stale smoke. He knows his dad is a perfectionist and always needs everyone else to be perfect, too, so it's probably at least 50% his fault for being a shitty kid. He's just glad his mom doesn't think he's shitty – she doesn't like the cigarettes, either, but she doesn't really mind him coming home a bit late or getting a bunch of bad grades as long as he doesn't fuck things up beyond repair.   
So Frank just spirals down into his misery. Every few days he decides that fuck it, his dad's a jerk anyway, and that works for a bit until he comes across an old family or just a car that looks like his dad's and that sets him off again. It sucks and it's totally creeping into his weird almost-relationship with Gerard.  
Of course Mikey and Gerard notice that Frank's quieter than usual, but they both agreed not to bring it up – they've figured out why he's like that and they're not going to get into his business. Instead, Mikey decides that it's time they cheer Frank up a bit, so they take him to a concert on another rainy Friday night.  
Frank already thinks the first band is awesome – they're loud, they sound angry and aggressive and they turn the crowd into a huge mess, so he jumps headfirst into the pit. It's nice, just letting himself go like that. He hasn't done that since that night when he cried alone in his bedroom, and he likes it better this way – being aggressive rather than melancholic. The music is loud enough to drown out his thoughts and people around him are kicking and flailing and providing the perfect distraction. But of course, it has to end at some point, but Mikey and Gerard are totally prepared for once. When Frank goes back to them, he's in a better mood already, so they buy him drinks and try to keep him in a good mood – Gerard holds his hand and Mikey gives hilariously bitchy comments about the people around him. It's okay, Frank thinks, and it's nice that they're doing this, even though he seriously doesn't feel like he needs anyone to help him or look after him or anything. By the time the second band starts, Frank is too exhausted to throw himself into another pit, but he's got a nice buzz going and is just teetering on the edge of being drunk. He's standing off to the side, just leaning against Gerard because the music and the alcohol are making him dizzy, and it's enough to alleviate his constant worries. Frank knows that, realistically, this feeling is never going to last, but it's good to just enjoy it for a moment.   
It's a good night – Mikey buys him some more drinks and talks shit about everyone else for a bit, Gerard doesn't let go of Frank's hand at all and that, along with the music, is just what he needs: a normal night out with people he likes. His doubts about himself and families and love are still on his mind, but he's pushing them back tonight. Until they say goodbye, at least. Gerard and Mikey walk him to his bus stop, and when Gerard and Frank kiss goodbye, Frank's stomach does a backflip. And not in the good way, either. He manages to control himself until the Ways are out of sight, but then he pukes into the bushes and cries a bit and then pukes some more. Fucking nerves. And fucking Gerard, who apparently totally believes in love and romance and all the shit Frank isn't too sure about at the moment. He just doesn't want to fuck it up, but here he is, puking at a bus stop instead of spending time with his boyfriend or whatever he's supposed to call it. Fuck. He spits on the ground a few times, wipes his mouth with his sleeve and finally gets on the bus to contemplate life a bit more.   
He turns off his phone when he gets home. It stays off for the rest of the weekend because Frank doesn't want to talk to anyone, especially not Gerard with his romantic bullshit. Seriously, how can that guy be so oblivious to the world around him? It's annoying and naïve and too much for Frank to handle right now. Ugh.   
He refuses to get out of bed for more than ten minutes at a time for the whole weekend and wonders if he should try to skip school on Monday. His mom won't notice if she's at work, and his dad very obviously won't find out. Stupid Christine's stupid children probably haven't skipped school before, and he doesn't think they would, so that feels like enough of a justification for skipping – it would piss his dad off if he was here with them. Since he isn't, it might not be worth the possible trouble, though.  
So he drags himself to school – it's just like every other school day after The Day Everything Started To Suck: he barely talks to anyone, participating in class seems like a waste of time and the bare minimum of work seems like too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback would be awesome as always :)  
> This time, the chapter title is from Raw Sugar by Metric.


	5. Everybody Needs Some Time Away

By the end of the week, Frank has decided that he really, really, really wants to leave. People at school are way too nice and he has to ignore them, Gerard keeps calling and texting him and he has to ignore him, and his mom is being way too compassionate and he can't really ignore him.  
Just a few weeks before, he could have fucked off to California, but his dad's being an asshole. He could fuck off to New York, but that's too close and he's pretty sure Gerard or his mom would come look for him. He could fuck off to Alaska, but that's a bit too cold. He remembers learning about Norway in a geography class, and just building a little cabin in a fjord seems pretty nice – nobody would find him. But he doesn't think he has enough money to go to Norway and build a cabin, and he wouldn't find a job so he'd probably starve and that seems pretty dumb. So he's still stuck in Jersey, but he still spends his weekend looking up flights to Norway and how much it could cost to build a cabin and what kind of jobs you can do without any kind of degree and without having to leave your fjord. There really aren't any options.  
He somehow drags himself to school on Monday and carefully avoids talking to anyone. Gerard texts him, but he doesn't reply. During their free period, Pete makes him go outside with him, to smoke and then go get something to eat.  
“Okay”, Pete says, “I'm just gonna go piss and then we can leave.”  
“Hm”, Frank says and lights another cigarette. He's looking down, so he can only hear Pete leave instead of actually seeing that, but he still hears footsteps when Pete should already be inside. Then he sees a pair of shoes on the ground in front of him – combat boots that he would recognize anywhere, so he looks up.  
“What the fuck are you doing here?”, Frank asks.   
“What the fuck are you doing in general?”, Gerard replies.  
“I go to school, I go home, I eat, I sleep and then I go to school again. What the fuck are you doing here?”  
“Yeah, well, I'm skipping school and talking to you”, Gerard says like this is all very natural. “You're weird, it's pissing me off, everyone else is also kinda pissed at you, so here I am. This is an intervention, you know.”  
Frank almost laughs because seriously? 'This is an intervention', what the fuck? “So you just decided to come to my school and hang around until I have a free period?”  
“Of course not.” Gerard sounds genuinely offended now. “Pete told me, you know. He's also pissed at you, remember?”   
“Oh, so you came here to tell me that I should just be in a better mood because I'm annoying? Well, newsflash, my parents just got a divorce, my dad isn't talking to me, his new family is better anyways and my mom is acting like my dad isn't even doing anything wrong here. She's like 'oh yeah, he cheated on me, oh bother, let's move on' and you're being all dorky and shitty and romantic and none of you even seem to think that love or romance or whatever might not even be a thing! What the fuck, man, can you even imagine how I feel?”  
Gerard looks pretty sad, like Frank just kicked a puppy or something, but he also looks kind of really angry and like Frank just crossed a line. “Well, you asshole, maybe you're not the only one having an existential crisis? You know, I threw you a cool birthday party, I had a cool date idea, I found a guy who actually seemed to like me for once, and then you go and ignore me without explaining anything! You can't do that, alright, I thought this was going to work out and I could have one normal relationship, but no. I swear to god, I don't give a shit if you want to break up or whatever, but just fucking talk to me, okay?”  
Oh. Maybe Frank was being a bit too selfish here. “Oh. Dude. I'm sorry, okay. I was pretty selfish, guess? But like, I totally felt like shit, okay, I couldn't just hang around people who were trying to be all romantic. I didn't feel like I deserved that, and I still don't feel like I deserve that, so. It's kind of your call whether or not we're going to continue this.”  
“Well, do you even like me or love me? Call it what you will, is there, like, anything like that?”  
That question is not phrased eloquently at all, but it still feels like someone punched Frank in the stomach. “Um. Yeah, actually, but-”  
“But what?”  
“Don't you think it's kinda pointless? Dating. Dating me. Relationships in general.”  
“No, and Mikey looked it up and he says feeling like that is totally normal for divorce kids and you'll get over it. Um. That probably didn't sound very compassionate, but I have a feeling you don't want any sympathy anyway.”  
“No, see, that's what my problem is. All of you are way too nice, okay. I'm not stupid, I know why you're all doing this, and it's fucking annoying and it brings everything back up again every single day. How the fuck am I supposed to get over it when everyone thinks that they need to try and cheer poor sad Frank up all the time and be extra careful. It's so fucking annoying when you all feel like you can't talk about your families when I'm around and when you and Mikey are all about weird grand gestures and trying to show me how love exists and shit. I can't do that at all, and if you want to go on, you should cut that out.”  
“Oh, come on, you can't just expect me not to worry about you! I just want you to feel okay again, is that really too much to ask?”  
“You want me to feel okay? The only way you can do that is to act like I'm okay because I seriously don't need any sympathy shit, I'll get over it; and if you can't do that, you seriously need to leave me the fuck alone.”  
Frank thinks this might have been pretty mean, but hello? Is he not allowed to be honest anymore? He tries to convince himself that this was definitely the right thing to do while Gerard just stares at the floor for an awfully long time.  
“Okay”, Gerard finally says. “Okay, fine, I get what you mean. We can try to be normal again, okay, I can try not to worry about you too much, but, I don't know. You're important to me, you know? So of course I'm going to be worried. But yeah, I'll try not to overdo it anymore.”  
Frank has to smile despite himself. “So we're cool? I honestly didn't mean to be so pissy and selfish.”  
“Yeah”, Gerard says, and he's finally also smiling again. “Come over after school?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from Kids of the K-Hole by NOFX.
> 
> I know this chapter is pretty short, but I'll be uploading the next 2 chapters pretty soon - probably sometime this week, if it works out with my school situation.


	6. Hate To Think How Long It's Been

Frank does come over after school, because he's pretty sure his mom won't care – she'll probably be glad he's not moping around the house anymore. Getting to Gerard's house is a problem, because he has no idea which bus to take, but he finally manages at some point. It doesn't matter that much, anyway – a few days before, this would have seemed like a huge problem and he thinks it might have made him go straight back home, but now he feels like he can totally do it, because hey, he already solved one problem today!  
When he gets there, nothing has really changed – the house is still dark and messy, Gerard still opens the door in ratty old clothes and Mrs. Way is sleeping on the couch again. It feels good and comforting, it seems like nothing in this house is ever gonna change, no matter how many times Frank's life does a 180. It's better than being at home, too, because the Ways obviously don't have any stuff that reminds Frank of his childhood, so it seems like he might actually be able to move on.   
“You know,” Frank says as they make their way down into Gerard's room, “I already feel better just being here.”  
“That's good,” Gerard says and presses a kiss to the corner of Frank's mouth. “So, you feel good enough for me not to worry?”  
“Yeah, I guess. Good enough for us to start the normal protocol, anyway.”  
So Gerard puts on a movie while Frank already curls up in bed. Gerard lies down behind him, one arm over Frank's waist and yeah, Frank definitely missed this. Gerard's breath is brushing over the back of his neck and sends shivers down his spine, so Frank has to turn around and kiss him.   
“I missed this, you know”, he whispers. “Missed you.”  
“Missed you too”, Gerard replies. “Can't believe we-” and just then Frank shuts him up with a kiss and just goes for it. He hooks his leg around Gerard's hip to pull him closer, looking for some friction because oh god, did he miss him, and they make out like that for a few minutes, rubbing up against each other, until Frank is pretty sure he's going to lose his mind.   
“Gee, come on, I want-” and here they go, because Gerard is opening the buttons on Frank's jeans, pushing him over onto his back and pulling the jeans off along with his boxers. He takes Frank's shirt off as well, and Frank's starting to have his doubts for a second because it feels weird to be naked in Gerard's bed while Gerard is fully dressed. He pushes that off his mind, though, and pushes his hands under Gerard's shirt to take it off while Gerard is already tugging off his sweatpants.  
When they're both naked, Gerard just stares at Frank for a bit until he reaches out to touch him, running his hands over Frank's chest and his waist over to his back. He scratches at the ridges of Frank's back a bit with his short nails and it gives Frank goosebumps. “Fuck, dude”, he mutters to himself. He tries to pull Gerard in for a kiss again, but Gerard ducks his head instead, mouthing and biting at Frank's neck and Frank just can't take it anymore.  
“Fuck, I want you, come on”, he gasps, and Gerard finally takes one hand off Frank's back to scramble around for lube and condoms.  
“You've done this before, right?”, Gerard asks, and Frank seriously thinks he shouldn't sound so casual while Frank is so desperate.   
“Yeah, yeah, come on!”, and Gerard does, just spreads Frank's legs a little more and, after Frank hears the familiar click of the bottle cap, pushes one finger in. Frank is pretty busy just rocking back onto Gerard's hand, so it comes as a shock when Gerard adds another two right away. He gasps, and Gerard asks “That okay? You're not the only one who's desperate, you know.”  
And of course it's totally okay, because Gerard is moving his fingers around and keeps hitting Frank's prostate, but at the same time, it's not enough. Frank makes a noise that's embarrassingly close to a whimper and hopes that Gerard will understand. He does, apparently, because he finally puts the condom on himself and shifts a bit closer to Frank again.  
When Gerard finally starts pushing inside Frank, it's weirdly unfamiliar and it hurts a bit, but Frank really doesn't have the time to focus on that. Gerard is inside him, above him and around him, his hair is falling into his face, his eyelashes are dark against his skin and his hands are all over Frank's body. The only light in the room is coming from the TV, but Frank still recognizes the look in Gerard's eyes. It's questioning, eyes wide open and eyebrows raised. Frank knows what he's asking even though Gerard doesn't word his question, and Frank just smiles up at him.   
That's all it takes for Gerard to go for it, speeding up his thrusts and hitting Frank's prostate while his nails are digging into Frank's skin.   
Frank had forgotten this could be so good, and it doesn't take long until they're both just panting, Gerard's thrusts becoming more erratic while Frank is pretty sure he's going to either come or die at some point in the next few minutes. For now, though, he's still alive and able to follow Gerard's movements and scratch his nails over Gerard's back. He seems to really like that because he's making these perfect little noises and Frank feels amazing because he's here with Gerard and he's making Gerard feel like this. The world around him seems blurred and unreal, the only thing that matters right now is being here, being with Gerard in the mostly-dark basement while he hears explosions from the movie from a distance and Gerard's noises right here, up close next to Frank's ear. It's not just good, it's perfect, the way Gerard is moving, the way they are moving together, and the way everything else is so far away. He comes with Gerard's name on his lips.  
“I was stupid, you know,” Frank says when they're curled up in Gerard's bed after. “Why the fuck did I give up on this?”  
“On us, you mean,” Gerard says, “and yeah, you were pretty stupid”, but he's grinning at Frank.

When Frank gets home, he's wearing a scarf he borrowed from Mikey to hide anything incriminating, but his mom still smiles at him knowingly.   
He's wearing the scarf again when he goes to school the next morning, but Pete notices the hickeys anyway when they're walking to lunch and grins obnoxiously.  
“So you guys are cool again?”, he asks.  
“Yeah”, Frank says, “we're cool.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First actual sex scene I've ever written, please don't kill me.  
> Title is from This Is Not For You by the Blood Red Shoes.


	7. Epilogue - You'll Finally Get It Right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads-up to avoid confusion - this is the epilogue and I just posted the last chapter as well, so make sure you don't accidentally skip it!  
> The title is from the song In This Diary by The Ataris.
> 
> Also, I hope you enjoyed reading this story!

Frank's mum picks him up from the airport on the 31st of December. They hug for a long time, and Frank is pretty glad she can't see the tears in his eyes because come on, he wasn't even gone for a week. He still missed her a lot. And Gerard, and Mikey, and everyone else. Fuck.  
They drive home afterwards and she asks way too many questions over lunch.  
“So. How was your dad? Did he apologize?”  
“Yeah,” Frank says. “He said he was sorry he never called and all that, and I guess he tried to make up for it, you know? He was being extra-nice, didn't let Christine or anyone say anything to me, so...he never explained it, but I guess it was good enough, you know?”  
His mum nods, but she still very carefully avoids looking at him when she asks “And Christine? Was she...nice? Okay?”  
“Tolerable,” Frank says, grinning as he tells her “You're still a lot cooler, though.”   
He still totally remembers how his dad and Christine had looked at him – the new hair, the new lip ring and a band shirt he kind of stole from Gerard's closet. Christine's eyebrows had almost disappeared into her hairline while his dad said something along the lines of Frank adopting “some...punk look, huh?” Frank had only made a non-committal noise before saying “You know, mum thinks it's cool.”  
So he tells her about that, and his mum looks slightly shocked before bursting into laughter and telling him to never, ever do that again or his dad might think they've gone completely insane now. But she asks about Christine's kids (still boring), his old friends (who have become way less awesome), whether the neighbour is still crazy (absolutely) and thousands of other questions about California.  
“But,” she cautiously asks while they do the dishes, “you're okay here, aren't you?”  
“Mum,” he says, “I refuse to move back there.”

Because if he moved back to California, he'd miss out on the New Year's party at the Ways' house which ends up being totally amazing.  
He gets there an hour before the party is actually supposed to start because Mikey and Gerard apparently need Frank's help with food. He thinks it's pretty weird that those two would be thoughtful enough to serve food at a party, but not starving at parties is pretty cool.   
Getting into the kitchen is pretty much impossible, though, because Gerard opens the front door, stares at Frank and then pulls him into a truly suffocating hug, alternating between kissing him and repeating “Oh my god, Frank, I'm so glad you're back” over and over again. Frank barely gets enough air into his lungs to say that he's also glad to be back, yes, hello Gerard, until Mikey goes “Gee, it's okay, he's alive, we need to get started now.” and Gerard lets go.

It turns out that their idea of food prep is pouring chips into bowls because it's so hard to reach into the bags and checking if they have enough frozen pizza while pre-gaming extensively. That's cool with Frank, so he ends up sitting on the counter, drinking beer and suffering through the same questions his mum already asked him a few hours ago. In addition to that, Gerard also needs to convince himself that nobody tried to kill Frank and the guys in California aren't hotter than him. That ungodly conversation is interrupted by the doorbell again and again and again, until Mikey just leaves the front door propped open. Frank and Gerard stay in the kitchen for a bit because Frank needs to catch up on everything that happened while he was gone, and because he wants to enjoy the beer and spending time with Gerard again before people will inevitably ask what California was like yet again. 

When they finally decide to go out into the living room, Frank involuntarily has to take a step back into the kitchen, because wow, he had no idea the Ways knew so many people. The room is fucking packed and Frank only knows about half of these people.  
Gerard disappears at some point, which sucks, but Frank talks to a bunch of people, drinks a bunch of beer and has fun anyway just being with his friends again until he stumbles over Pete – literally stumbles over him because Pete is sitting on the floor.   
“What the fuck, man? Why are you on the floor?”  
“I'm pretty fucking drunk,” Pete slurs, “and I can't sit on the couch.”  
“Why not?”, Frank asks.  
“Because someone puked on it,” Pete says like that was obvious.  
“Oh god. Pete, that wasn't you, right?”  
“I dunno,” Pete says. Frank goes off to find Mikey or Gerard to tell them that Pete is drunk at 11pm and someone puked on the couch. No matter what Pete says, Frank senses a connection. 

Frank ends up finding both Mikey and Gerard outside, smoking and sharing a beer.   
“Hey,” he says. “Pete is drunk and someone puked on the couch. He says he doesn't know if he did it, so one of you should probably go check on him. And the furniture.”  
Mikey stares at Gerard and Gerard stares back until Mikey sighs deeply, drops his cigarette, says “Oh god, I hate you all” and goes back inside.  
“He didn't really puke on the couch, right?”, Gerard asks. “My mum's gonna kill us all.”  
“I don't know. But you guys have a black couch, right? We could probably just, like, paint over the stains. I did that when some guy puked on my shoes once. I cleaned them before, though.”  
“Yeah? Good to know you're an expert. You could clean the couch.”  
“Well, for starters, you could give me a smoke. I lost mine somewhere inside, I don't know where.”  
Gerard does, and they both lean on the wall, smoking in silence until Gerard checks the time and says “In forty-two minutes, it will officially be next year.”  
“That's weird, man. I can't even deal with this year, you know? But we can officially make shitty jokes now. And tomorrow. In forty-two minutes, I will be able to tell you that I haven't showered since last year.”  
“Oh god,” Gerard says, “I hate those jokes with a burning passion.”  
“Why? I mean, yeah, they suck, but they're funny if you're drunk enough.”  
“Dude,” Gerard looks at him with wide eyes. “I hit my head on the day before New Year's as a kid and I had to get stitches and the nurse told me that it wouldn't heal until next year. Can you imagine how much I cried?”  
That mental image is definitely too much for Frank and his alcohol level.  
By the time they feel ready to go back inside, it's two minutes to midnight and they figure they might as well stay outside. Frank sticks his head through the front door to yell “It's almost next year, motherfuckers, come outside! There's fireworks!”  
The people across the street are setting off some really cool fireworks, but Frank doesn't really notice anymore because hello, New Year's kiss! He's pretty sure he's getting frostbite on his ears, but Gerard's mouth is warm on his own and his hands are cupping Frank's face in that really amazing way, and people around them are wishing everyone a happy new year and it has to be the best part of Frank's year – he's not sure whether it's the best part of the new year, but possibly the best part of the old one.

The party goes on for hours after that, but Frank is starting to get seriously tired. Gerard takes him downstairs, and they lock the door and crawl into bed.   
“Do you have any resolutions?”, Gerard asks right as Frank is drifting off.  
“Yeah,” Frank yawns, “I'm never gonna move back to California.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story I'm writing in English, so any con-crit (any opinions in general, actually) would totally be appreciated :)  
> The story title is from This Young Crazed Peeling by The Distillers.


End file.
